After the excitement of the All Star Game and some big trades it was time for the second half of the BaseballGB Fantasy League to get under way. And the top three teams are now separated by just half a game after week 16.

 

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Norwich No II	48	19	56	4	.259*	.805	7	4	80	5	3.06	0.97	10
The Bath Bombers	41	12	41	7	.259*	.797	1	3	47	0	5.65	1.72	2

 

Norwich were the big winners of week 16, defeating the Bombers 10-2. Schoop and Khris Davis each scored nine runs and hit seven homers, with Davis driving in 16 to Schoop’s 15. A pitching sweep included two wins from new A Familia, Corbin and Flaherty struck out 17 each and Tanaka did not allow an earned run or many baserunners on his return from injury. Ottavino had two saves and two holds. The Bombers took average on a tiebreak thanks to Chirinos (.375) and Margot (.360) while Trout swiped five bases.

 

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Orpington Isotopes	54	24	64	3	.298	.964	8	2	75	3	4.07	1.26	9
Mighty Slugs	50	15	57	5	.292	.916	6	2	82	2	4.95	1.34	2

 

The Isotopes move to the top of the standings on a tiebreak after defeating the Slugs 9-2. In a matchup full of offense, Yelich was the star, batting .537 with 10 runs, four homers and 14 RBIs. Hoskins showed no ill effects from the Home Run Derby, scoring 11 runs with seven homers and 14 RBIs. Wood and Greinke won twice each and helped take ERA and WHIP, while Colome had three holds. Acuna Jr stole three bases for the Slugs while Hill led the staff with 17 strikeouts.

 

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Beckenham A&E Dept	34	15	36	1	.227	.743	8	3	111	3	4.36	1.32	4
Cheshunt Maltsters	38	10	39	3	.263	.752	3	6	86	5	4.41	1.21	8

 

The Maltsters started the second half with an 8-4 win against the A&E Dept. Pham led the team with seven runs while J.D. Martinez drove in nine. They also stole a base and Zunino batted .357. In a busy week for the bullpen, Kimbrel and Jansen had three saves each while Barnes had a trio of holds. Bundy and Castillo each posted WHIPs around .080. Carpenter’s salsa-powered home run binge helped Beckenham club 15 in total while Porcello and Wheeler each won twice and helped take ERA while Carrasco struck out 16.

 

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Batteries Essential	22	5	21	1	.326	.923	4	4	68	0	3.62	1.34	5
Durham Riverkings	42	9	33	10	.226	.672	2	5	42	2	3.48	1.35	7

 

The Riverkings are second on a tiebreak after their 7-5 win against Batteries Essential. Molina scored eight runs, Merrifield stole five bases and Bregman knocked in seven and was one of three players with a multi-homer week. Iglesias and Chapman had two saves each while Edwards Jr picked up two holds. With just four active batters, Batteries Essential had no hope at counting stats but did take average thanks to Blackmon (.344), Beltre and Benintendi (.333 each). Sale was one of four players with a win, struck out 19 and posted a 0.58 WHIP.

 

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Richie’s RBI’s	49	18	58	2	.266	.832	6	2	81	2	4.77	1.36	5
Weston-Super-Sox	63	15	51	9	.327	.959	2	2	52	1	1.99	0.93	6

 

The Sox got the better of the RBIs 6-5. Kinsler scored 12 times and hit .452 for the Sox, while Chris Davis scored 10 runs. Polanco hit .500 for the week and stole three bases. Kershaw, new Yankee Happ and Cole helped take ERAS and WHIP. The RBIs had the edge in homers and RBIs thanks to a five-homer, 12-RBI week from Perez while Gallo launched four dingers. Newcomb won twice, including his near no-no, while Berrios and Clevinger struck out 15 each and Watson and Romo had a hold each.

 

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OPS	W	SV	K	HLD	ERA	WHIP	Score
Newcastle Knights	51	15	39	7	.278	.859	5	4	66	6	4.94	1.52	6
The Cheddar Chasers	35	6	31	9	.237	.648	6	6	77	2	2.99	1.26	6

 

Finally, the Knights and Chasers could not be separated, finishing in a 6-6 tie. The Knights had the better of the offense, with Pollock scoring 10 runs, Grandal hitting four homers and Encarnacion driving in eight and batting .345. Jeffress had two holds. Dee Gordon and Brian Dozier stole three bases apiece for the Chasers, who took the majority of the pitching stats. Scherzer (18 strikeouts) and Gray each won twice and helped take ERA and WHIP, while Treinen collected three saves.

Transactions

There is still time to make trades, with the league’s deadline on August 12. But there have been some notable transactions. The Riverkings have cut bait with All Star outfielder Nick Markakis while the Bombers have run out of patience with Gary Sanchez, sending him to the waiver wire instead of the DL.

 

The standings after week 16 look like this:

 

Rank	Team	W-L-T	Pct	GB	Last Week	Waiver	Moves
1	 Orpington Isotopes	114-68-10	.620	–	9-2-1	10	23
2	 Durham Riverkings	113-67-12	.620	–	7-5-0	2	18
3	 Norwich No II	111-66-15	.617	0.5	10-2-0	6	18
4	 Newcastle Knights	101-73-18	.573	9	6-6-0	8	37
5	 Beckenham A&E Dept	94-81-17	.534	16.5	4-8-0	9	18
6	 Cheshunt Maltsters	91-84-17	.518	19.5	8-4-0	3	19
7	 Mighty Slugs	93-86-13	.518	19.5	2-9-1	7	33
8	 The Cheddar Chasers	89-92-11	.492	24.5	6-6-0	1	5
9	 Richie’s RBI’s	81-98-13	.456	31.5	5-6-1	12	25
10	 Weston-Super-Sox	61-114-17	.362	49.5	6-5-1	5	3
11	 The Bath Bombers	62-120-10	.349	52	2-10-0	11	11
12	 Batteries Essential	56-117-19	.341	53.5	5-7-0	4	–

 

And here are this week’s matchups:

Orpington Isotopes (1^st) v Newcastle Knights (4^th)

Batteries Essential (12^th) v Mighty Slugs (7^th)

Beckenham A&E Dept (5^th) v Durham Riverkings (2^nd)

Cheshunt Maltsters (6^th) v Weston-Super-Sox (10^th)

Norwich No II (3^rd) v Cheddar Chasers (8^th)

Richie’s RBI’s (9^th) v Bath Bombers (11^th)